Chris Jones's Blog, page 7
February 2, 2021
Meet The Speakers At LondonSWF365 February 2021… the Online Breakthrough Festival For Screenwriters
So LondonSWF365 is almost upon us and I thought I would share the speakers here… You can get a pass for £60 for the whole month here… https://www.screenwritersfestival.online/speakers-2021
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Chris Jones
My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com
My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker
My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix
events, books and free film making tools
January 27, 2021
Screenwriters, here’s how we are going to make February the BEST month of 2021…
I just spent five days deep inside an Arts Council Grant Application for the Festival, but in parallel the team has been ridiculously productive—launching new sessions, announcing new speakers and elevating the whole of February from Awesome to… even Awesomer!
We planned the festival for February as we could see that on all fronts it could be a challenging time for us all, with so much uncertainty (and, you know, the damn mundane apocalypse).
So let me offer you some outstanding certainty!
We are running our February Festival for screenwriters from Feb 5th to 28th, with nearly 100 events and over 50 speakers. All are both LIVE and On Demand to watch at your convenience for one year. Here’s what you can expect…
Get inspired daily… so you will write more productively.Get writing craft insight and breakthroughs daily… so your writing and screenplays are improved.See the road ahead more clearly… so you can better prepare for the new world, rules and industry we are ALL living into.Connect with people like you daily… you WILL make new friends, and make contacts that will help you on YOUR journey.Wake up EXCITED… every day will be an exhilarating adventure into creativity, imagination, storytelling and shared experiences.Look. I don’t know anyone who isn’t suffering in one way or another. Financially, mentally, physically or just our old friend nagging in our head about ‘what the hell is going on, how will we get through it, what is on the other side?’
So join us from Feb 5th to 28th when we can come together, celebrate, elevate and create our future together. We have worked our asses off to create this magical experience for you—to help you, and all of us—through this time.
And I know this too: if we can ALL elevate ourselves in February, those around us will feel that energy, excitement and passion. It will help them face their own feelings about getting through each day. And isn’t that what we do? We tell stories to help people through their lives. Truth is, that is our calling and sacred duty.
OK… So yes, we have the screenwriters of Captain Marvel and Inside Out, Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna, joining us. Also we have Ann Druyan who wrote Contact with her husband, the late Carl Sagan, talking Science FACTion. And… Kate Brooke on a career writing hit shows like A Discovery of Witches, and… oh look, we have SO many people, just head over and check out the speakers here… https://www.screenwritersfestival.online/speakers-2021
And the schedule here…. www.screenwritersfestival.online/schedule-feb-2021
So yes, we do have amazeballs speakers and sessions, but it’s the immersion for the month that will make the difference.
Passes are £60 for full access both live and on-demand afterward. The chatter and friendships forged during the live experience alone are worth joining for… Sign up here… www.screenwritersfestival.online
We have designed February to be the best month of the year! It’s bold. It’s ambitious. It’s damn-well audacious. Join in, you won’t regret it. So yeah, Awesomer. Promise.
Chris Jones
Captain of the London Screenwriters’ Festival
‘Amazing. My knowledge and appreciation of the craft has improved tenfold. My learning has accelerated more in the past month than in the past year. The London SWF 365 has proved to be an absolute goldmine – cannot praise it highly enough! Well done Mr. Jones and your amazing team for making this incredible event happen in such a reliable and affordable way.’
Darren Grenfell, Screenwriter
‘The festival experience has been a thousand times bigger than I expected, but also a million times closer and more friendly than something this big has any right to be. An amazing collection of writers, film-makers and educators on my computer and in my ears. And I’ve made new friends, and found new heroes. Thank you to the whole team!’
Matthew White, Screenwriter
‘It has come as a breath of inspirational fresh air! Considering what’s been going on in the outside world, this has been the pick me up that I needed and reminded me what a special place the Festival creates for everyone. Thank you all as you’ve adapted and worked your socks off every day to improve it from session to session!!!’
Hector Figueroa, Screenwriter
‘This was my first time attending LSF as I finally felt like I could afford it. It has been wonderful getting to interact with other writers and I feel like I have learnt a lot. It has also helped to build my confidence in who I am as a writer and to not be scared about getting my work out there.’
Helen Ward, Screenwriter
January 11, 2021
Session at LSF365 inspires real life regional feature filmmaking…
On the 31st of May last year, during the London Screenwriters Festival 365, I had the pleasure of watching Clive Frayne’s DIY Script Doctor session and subsequent script chat. I found that Clive’s thoughts about regional filmmaking chimed very close to my own, so we connected on Twitter. Our discussions on Twitter lead to a face-to-face Zoom meeting, during which Clive kicked my ass and helped me get my mojo for filmmaking back.
This journey has led me to The Mire, a contained psychological feature film being shot in Portsmouth this year. It’s the story of a cult leader who is caught by his two most loyal followers whilst he is escaping with money stolen from his congregation. A battle of wits unfolds over the course of one evening as each of them attempts to manipulate, reform, and outwit the others. To bring this story to life I’ve partnered with the incredible writer Chris Watt and Familiar Stranger Films, a production company local to Portsmouth.
Using Clive’s notion of ‘sweat equity’ and offering shares to the principal cast/crew, we’ve managed to get the ‘hard’ costs of The Mire down to £4000, which we’re trying to raise through crowdfunding. Contributing to our campaign will provide a real boost for regional filmmaking to Portsmouth, something I hold very dear to my heart. Films don’t have to be made in London, there are other settings, with other stories, and these deserve to be heard.
It’s been an odd year, and if you can’t contribute financially you could still help us a lot by sharing the campaign out into your network of contacts.
You can learn more about the film and what we’re offering at igg.me/at/themirefilm
Find the team on Twitter at:
@AppleParkFilms
@thechriswatt
@FamStraFilms
…and the ass kicker himself – @clivefrayne
Adam D Nelson
Filmmaker
PS – Tickets are now on sale for the February month long onling screenwriters festival here… www.ScreenwritersFestival.online
January 1, 2021
Meet The Filmmakers Behind Exam with Stuart Hazeldine and Mark Talbot Butler
I am sharing this rare interview with Stuart and Mark that I recorded after a screening of EXAM, a cracking British thriller set in one room. Mark, who died a few days ago, was a very close friend and also the editor of EXAM. I just wanted to share this footage as so little exists of him. Not to mention the insights into how this cracking movie was made. Enjoy!
Here is the Screenplay in PDF format – DOWNLOAD HERE
Onwards and upwards!
Chris Jones
My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com
My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker
My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix
Sign up to my mailing list for updates on
events, books and free film making tools
December 31, 2020
Nothing Evokes A Memory As Powerfully As Music
In the early part of 1990, I found myself directing my first feature film at the age of 20. Standing in a freezing forest in Wales in the early hours of a February morning, I recall the convoy of trucks thundering up the side of the mountain.
It evoked the opening shot from the little known Michael Mann vampire film ‘The Keep’, as trucks thundered through mountains (also shot in Wales) the hypnotic music of Tangerine Dream.
Mark Talbot Butler was with me and we both marvelled at how life had now begun to not just reflect art, but the movies we so dearly loved.
The making of The Runner was an experience yet to be bested in my life, and that’s in no small part down to the people around me at that time. Gen, Jon, Terry, Johnny, Gary, Dickens, Cathy, Jane, Truce, Terrance, Adrian, Lisa, Stef, Nick, Owen, Andrew, Lee… and so many more. And of course Mark.
As I am sure you know Mark, the editor of The Runner (and also the writer and camera operator) died two days ago, and I am still struggling to process it. We also lost Johnny Kevorkian this year too. Both all too soon.
Only a month ago I spoke with Gen and Mark about a Runner screening event online to celebrate 30 years. And now this event HAS to happen. I will be connecting with everyone I can track down from The Runner and announcing plans as soon as I can.
The soundtrack which was recorded in our front room and performed by Gary Pinder is perhaps the most evocative element for me, as it takes me right back there.
If you love synth scores from action movies of the 80’s and 90’s, do yourself a favour and journey back down memory lane…
Onwards and upwards!
Chris Jones
My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com
My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker
My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix
Sign up to my mailing list for updates on
events, books and free film making tools
December 30, 2020
We lost another great British Film Talent… Sparkie… MTB… Mark Talbot-Butler
When I reflect on any significant relationship in my life, that person has often gifted me something.
Mark Talbot-Butler, who I just found out died last night, gave me the gift of rigorously high standards.
Mark was best known for being a film editor, something I experienced first hand with him more than once. I have known Mark for the majority of my life and his influence on me personally, cannot be underestimated.
We live our lives in eras, or seasons.
MTB as we all knew him then (others later knew him as Sparkie), showed up first when I was probably around 15, at a film and TV geek shop in Manchester called Odyssey Seven. Only four weeks ago we were chatting about this on FB. At the time he was just a guy in the shop, but without doubt the skinniest guy I had ever seen, and one with a slightly maniacal glint in his eye.
Cut to five years later and Bournemouth Film School where I had managed to blag myself a place.
Mark was the year above me and we quickly became friends, bonding over Aliens, Jaws and so many other movies. We worked on many projects together and that’s where I began to learn about high technical standards from him. I was his assistant editor on a major project and learned so much.
He was no easy going task master too, often rude, aggressive and dominating.
Soon after film school he ended up working on our first feature film together, The Runner. A film that became iconic through The Guerilla Filmmakers Handbook, and a baptism of fire for all involved.
This era of my life was a crucible of fire.
At 21, I was learning more every single day than I would in a year later in my life. And Mark was right there next to me. He wrote the script as we needed one. He edited the film as he alone had the skillset. He operated camera as dammit, he just loved it.
We were all way out of our depth and loving every second of it.
One enduring memory was kitting up for a flight in RAF choppers, wearing the full kit and walking along the tarmac… me, Mark, Gen and Jon Walker, in what felt like slow motion.
Mark and I exchanged words and laughs… It was genuinely a dream come true to be loading a camera into a chopper, knowing that in a moment we would be hanging out and shooting shots for the film. This is all before health and safety of course.
That film experience was the best of times, and of course, the worst.
Mark had his demons too, and he grappled with them even more through the nineties and noughties. I saw it up close and personal more than once and it was tough to see it.
And then a miracle happened. Tanya.
Tanya, Marks wonderful wife, was the anchor he needed in his turbulent seas.
That tough, aggressive, combative and sometimes downright rude edge was softened and the Mark we all loved, began to sparkle once more. At his wedding he was a transformed man, and more recently, he moved out of his flat in Foley street in Soho, and into the country. Something the old Mark would have never, and I mean, NEVER have done.
I am not sure I knew anyone with a greater depth of knowledge and deep passion about film as Mark.
As much as I often wanted to punch him, I also loved him dearly and I learned soooooo much from him.
And so Mark, I will choose to remember that moment, flying above the sea around Anglesey, all kitted up in flight gear, pilots helmet on, visor down, Arri BL2 S16 camera on the shoulder, sitting on the edge of an open door in the Sikorsky Sea King chopper, banking steeply and looking at each other… your face with the widest grin I had ever seen. We weren’t just making a movie. We are in a movie. In that moment, we WERE the movie. Magic and magic shared.
I hope you took that same chopper flight as you left this world. It was the best.
Onwards and upwards!
Chris Jones
My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com
My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker
My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix
Sign up to my mailing list for updates on
events, books and free film making tools
December 25, 2020
Listen to EVERY Bedtime Story Read By Santa from our Big Book Of Adventure Stories
In the run up to Christmas, we ran a children’s book challenge to write one of twenty five short stories that we would then publish in a book, and also ask Santa to read! One for every night in December.
We have uploaded then all now to watch here.
Huge thanks to all the writers, Michael van Koetsveld (who played Santa) and Savannah Morgan, who held EVERYTHING together while donning super large Elf ears!
What a HUGE and extraordinary success this has been, and you can get a copy of the book of Amazon HERE.
Join Santa on a magical, imaginative Christmas adventure and discover the world’s smallest giant, a planet of colourless aliens, snowed in tooth fairies, a lonely superhero, witches in search of yuletide spirit, a back-to-front girl, lots and lots of naughty animals, and a self important sock in need of a lesson! Inventive Christmas tales with timeless messages from twenty five new and eclectic writers. Unleash the imagination!
Onwards and upwards!
Chris Jones
My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com
My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker
My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix
Sign up to my mailing list for updates on
events, books and free film making tools
December 9, 2020
Announcing The Successfully Selected Writers and Stories for Twisted: Ghosts of Christmas
You can now get the book on Amazon HERE.
As ever, debate among the judges was heated, but we finally arrived at a list!
Please do leave a comment on this post, and if you are not on the list, keep going, it’s an insane job to judge art. We may also sneak some bonus stories into the eBook too!
I will be in touch soon about when to buy copies of the book so that we can co-ordinate getting on the Amazon Best Seller list.
OK.. the tension mounts… So drum roll please… The successful writers and stories are…
Maxine Lennon and Persimmity Glue
Lawrence Morgan and Vincent Van Gogh’s Ear
Josh Shevill and Antlers
Andrew Perry and The Gifts of Christmas Past
Kurt Fried and Today’s Treat
Mark Walker and Isabella
Ricardo Bravo and Do You Believe in Santa?
Helen Bang and The Chorister
Suzanne Fox and He Moves in the Night
Chris Jeal and Revenge is a Dish Best Served with Stuffing
Emma Pullar and Awake
Toby Norways and A Dog is for Life, not just for Christmas
Sherice Griffiths and Jinx
Paul Shearer and Family Christmas
Fiona Faith Ross and Roasted
Jamie Shearing and Just for Christmas
Rose Banks and Needles
Tim Coleman and The Weeping Widow
John Suriano and ComicCon Christmas
Claire Rye and Oh! Christmas Tree
Suzie Grogan and Life at Christmas
Gerry Driver and Santa Sleighed
Aaron Nash and The E.D.P
Rachael Howard and The Spirit of Yule
Gordon Slack and No Heart
Congratulations again, if this is your first time, it never gets old. Your name is on the cover of a book and your words inside it.
And the bonus stories are written by…
Steven Butler
Simon Cluett
Evie James
Al Campbell
Michael van Koetsveld
Lee Burgess
Kendall Castor-Perry
Nick Yates
Harriet Barbir
Rebecca Handley
Thank you also to Mark, Emma, Elinor, Lawrence and Savannah for working around the clock to make this happen.
OUTSTANDING! Publishing date of the 16th December now loking very certain.
Onwards and upwards!
Chris Jones
My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com
My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker
My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix
Sign up to my mailing list for updates on
events, books and free film making tools
November 26, 2020
Can you write a Christmas Ghost or Horror Story?
Deadline Dec 6th midnight GMT // 1,000 Words or fewer‘Twisted 50: The Ghosts of Christmas’ is a collection of winter spine tinglers, fifty stories of the paranormal, fifty writers… fifty slices of terror.
This special volume will be published on December 16th, just in time for that extra special gift this season…
Can you write a short Twisted tale in 1,000 words or less? The 50 best stories will be published in both paperback and online.
We all love a good Christmas ghost story or horror movie. If Hammer House of Horror, Tales of the Unexpected and Pans Books of Horror set your pulse racing and mind spinning as a youngster, then writing a short story, set at Christmas, offers the darkest recesses of your mind, a deliciously macabre feast in which to express itself.
You know you shouldn’t let it out, but you know you want to.
Interested…? Let’s dig a little deeper into this paranormal, wicked and dank shallow grave…
Found out more HERE.
Onwards and upwards!
Chris Jones
My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com
My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker
My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix
Sign up to my mailing list for updates on
events, books and free film making tools
November 24, 2020
Congratulations to the 25 Selected Authors in our Father Christmas Bedtime Stories Book
You can now get the book on Amazon HERE.
Wow, well that was a whirlwind!
We had 230 stories submitted to this initiative and each one was read by four experienced readers before selecting the 25 to go into the book.
I plan to share an analysis of the experience in the coming days so we can all benefit from what we learned.
We have also just opened up bookings for our Christmas calls with Santa if you have kids or knows someone who would like this. All proceeds are going to help the London Screenwriters’ festival. You can read more and book HERE.
The standard was high, though some repetition of ideas caused us to have to choose between stories that were similar. If you didn’t make the cut, remember it’s soooooo subjective too. It’s art and inescapable. If you wrote to a crazy deadline AND managed to get it submitted, that in itself is an accomplishment AND you created something that is now in the world. That’s marvellous.
But for now, lets ALL give the 25 who were selected a round of applause!
Drum roll please (and in no specific order)…
Ricardo Bravo, A Christmas Lesson from Timmy, the World’s Smallest Giant
Carole Parsons, Amimej and the Back-to-Front Christmas
Cheryl Lang, The Lonely Christmas Tree
Harriet Barbir, Santaroo
Gillian Spiller, The Christmas Sock
Ruth Nolan, Rudolph’s Nose
Dominic Brancaleone, A Bedtime Adventure
Maxine Lennon, He He He!
Hank Isaac, Santa… Really?
Helen Lusher, Hare And The Moon
Catherine Veitch, Shine Brightly
Rachael Howard, Pippin’s Worry
Josh Shevill, Omega-Man, The (not so) Lonely Hero
Zanna Twist, Mittens and Mink Meet Santa!
Rachael Crofts, Cub’s Christmas Tale
Fiona Hunnisett, Grace’s Dad
Jen Lyon, Belle’s Christmas Wish
Joelle Edwards, A Pinch of Christmas Courage
Jenny Heap, Christmas Eve at the Zoo
Jennifer Bozarth, Fidget the Elf
Cera Rose Pickering, Christmas Colours
Lucy Unwin, The Christmas Moon
Siân Rowland, The Littlest Shepherd
EV Parker, I Want
Nadya Thulin, Mr. Kris
These stories will all now feature in the book which is being put together by McKyla Cox in America… We will be deciding on the title today too.
Massive and I mean MASSIVE thanks and acknowledgement must go to the whole team who worked round the clock to read and asses everything.
So thank you Savannah Morgan, Elinor D. Perry-Smith, Emma Pullar, Lawrence Morgan and Mark Walker.
We will also be filming them in the coming days, with Michael van Koetsveld who will play our Santa, reading them aloud.
These Christmas films will be released one a day in the run up to the 25th of December, on the Facebook page and Youtube. And please do consider buying the book too, links will be going live in the next few days.
AMAZING and a testament to what is possible with a big goal, drive and a world class team as well as super talented writers.
Onwards and upwards!
Chris Jones
My movies www.LivingSpiritGroup.com
My Facebook www.Facebook.com/ChrisJonesFilmmaker
My Twitter @LivingSpiritPix
Sign up to my mailing list for updates on
events, books and free film making tools
